Quaestio illustris: an'ne renati de sua ipsorum et de aliorum Piorum aeterna electione, certo pronunciare, & per fidem, in Domino, de eadem gloriari debeant

and anointed with the oil of gladness, they bear fruit, something akin to both. John 15.2. The wine of the Law, poured into the wounds of sinners, wipes away and purges the pus: but the oil of the Gospel soothes the pains and heals the continuous dissolution.

Theophrastus, dissenting from Africanus, says that the fig and the olive are most modest, as are others. For they draw much nourishment and provide ample shade. Let there be, therefore, in the Saints a temperament of virtues and of all gifts, such that it is discovered that they are given by the Lord not so much privately for individuals as publicly for all, so that they may be of use to all: they not seeking those things which are their own, but those things which are of others, and referring all things to the common utility of the Church.

Theophrastus, discussing the reason for storms and location in book 5 of the Causes of Plants, ch. 14, writes that it is the worst for Olives, and Vines, and all others, if it rains while they are flowering. For the flowers and fruits fall off, by reason of weakness. There are also specific defects of places, as happens to Olives near Miletus and Tarentum. Indeed, near Miletus, when it flowers, if the air is southern and serene, a varied type of caterpillar is created: of which some erode the leaf, others the flower, etc.

Dangerous also to the Saints is an abundance of delights, which makes them soft and inert: dangerous are conversations